Clang!
Only when poor Grand Maester Runeter crashed stiffly onto the cold floor tiles did everyone recover from Danyla's rapid-fire verbal assault on him.
Jaehaerys had always believed Danyla was a Dreamwalker, so he instinctively assumed she must have uncovered some of the Citadel's secrets. He now became especially wary of the Citadel.
The other ministers on the Small Council, however, assumed Princess Danyla had learned of the Citadel's hidden agenda through the royal intelligence network and, unable to keep her composure today, had blurted it out.
But as some of the rare intelligent people in the Seven Kingdoms, they all drew a great many conclusions from Nila's scattered remarks.
In this world of magic, the Citadel seemed a remarkably rational institution, dedicated to cultivating intellectuals versed in every discipline for Westeros. Here, people did not discuss religion or politics, upholding instead the supremacy of science. It seemed a paradise for those seeking knowledge.
Yet the Citadel, situated in Oldtown, the largest and oldest port in Westeros, was unsettling in every respect.
Strictly speaking, the Citadel was not a city but a complex of buildings. It shared Oldtown with the Hightower, the tallest structure in Westeros, and the Starry Sept, where successive High Septons had resided before the War of the Conqueror.
The Citadel's origins also dated back thousands of years, to when House Hightower still ruled as Kings of the Hightower. It had gradually taken shape under a prince named Peremore the Twisted, the second son of Uther, King of the Hightower.
This crippled prince, hungry for knowledge, invited countless wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, singers, and even Warlocks, alchemists, and sorcerers to Oldtown. After Peremore died, his elder brother, King Urrigon, granted vast tracts of land beside the Honeywine to "Peremore's Pets," laying the foundation for the Citadel.